Who are the Khoisan?

Dear relations and friends,

The question has often been asked: Who are the Khoi-khoi (or Khoen-khoen), the Koisan, the San, the Nama, etc. I have pleasure to attach an article that deals with research as recent as last year. It appeared in Volume 31, No 1 of The Digging Stick, the bulletin of the South African Archaeological Society. I am indebted to my school mate, Reinoud Boers who pointed it out to me. He is the editor of the publication. You can see more of their work on the web by simply typing in either the name of the organisation or the name of the publication.

The essence of the article points to the following: Possibly 2000 years ago a division took place between the people who occupied parts of the Kalahari, south-western and south Africa. The probability is that a section of them were exposed people who migrated from Arabia, via Ethiopia and then further south. They introduced the people today identified as Khoi to animal husbandry, bringing with them domesticated cattle, goats and sheep. The San are the people who remained hunter-gatherers. Because of the strong language connection between the Khoi and the San, the term Khoisan is often used. Therefore from around 1000 the Khoi and San lived separately but remained in land that was home to them since time immemorial.